A Deep Connection to the Guild Wars Franchise
It is rare for a year to pass without me humming the iconic theme from Guild Wars 2, revisiting snippets of the original game to indulge in nostalgia for pre-Searing Ascalon, or subjecting my wife to yet another imitation of a Grawl. The MMORPG developed by ArenaNet has played a significant role in my life, making my excitement palpable when the developer announced Guild Wars 3 earlier this summer, with a beta set to launch in late 2027.
I spent countless hours immersed in Guild Wars during my secondary and high school years, followed by an excessive amount of time playing Guild Wars 2 with my university roommates. To me, Guild Wars has always been a hidden gem in the MMORPG landscape, never quite achieving the scale or attention of titans like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XI, yet maintaining a vast user base and a dedicated following.
A Standalone Prequel Experience
Guild Wars 3 is set before the events of both Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, allowing newcomers to dive into the narrative without prior knowledge of the series. This release marks the franchise’s first venture onto consoles, with a version tailored for PlayStation 5 alongside its PC counterpart. Interestingly, while developers typically reduce support for earlier titles in anticipation of a sequel, ArenaNet has committed to maintaining both the original Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 in the coming years. Recently, they reintroduced the original game as Guild Wars Reforged, complete with system enhancements and a smartphone version.
Details about the game, which has been in development for four years using Unreal Engine 5, are still limited. However, ArenaNet provided a sneak peek of some early alpha footage that showcased gameplay elements, igniting my enthusiasm to return to the world of Tyria.
The Joy of Movement
Gliding was already a movement mechanic in Guild Wars 2, but the transitions felt clunky and slow when stopping and starting again. This has been greatly improved in Guild Wars 3, offering a more fluid experience with an expanded range of movements. In many ways, it brings the gameplay closer to that of an action RPG.
Players can leap off cliffs, begin gliding, and now even run up walls to reach their destinations—all executed through a series of smooth movements without awkward transitions, although a stamina bar serves as a limiting factor. Colin Johanson, the studio director at ArenaNet, describes this as allowing for “a truly expressive and free movement joy.” Much of this focus is on character momentum, employing speed, weight, and directional inertia—an approach that online multiplayer games have historically shied away from due to network latency and server-client synchronisation issues.
Momentum not only influences movement but also impacts combat dynamics. Players can gain speed to charge at enemies and slam them against cliffs to stun them (with enemies able to retaliate in kind) or use momentum to launch foes off a precipice, reminiscent of King Leonidas. The fate of their loot upon falling remains unanswered, as ArenaNet has yet to clarify this aspect.
While the fundamental movement mechanics are consistent across all character classes, each class possesses its unique style. For instance, a Warrior can run up a wall and use a downward momentum to slam their weapon into the ground, dealing area damage to nearby foes.
Collaborative Combat That Matters
I fondly recall the collaborative combat mechanics that I enjoyed upon the release of Guild Wars 2, such as when an Elementalist cast a ring of fire for an ally to shoot arrows through, inflicting burn damage. This element remains vital in GW3.
Warriors can tilt their shield to serve as a launchpad for their allies, catapulting them into the air for aerial attacks. Rangers have a skill that creates an ice vortex, allowing a Warrior to jump inside, harness the vortex’s force to ascend, and then dive down, inflicting significant damage. Some of these actions represent the new “contextual abilities” in GW3, which only activate during specific contextual windows. If a Warrior is airborne, they can trigger the ability to descend forcefully and strike the ground.
In a recent encounter with spiders, a Warrior ignited their weapon, which subsequently set their allies’ weapons ablaze. This teamwork quickly dispatched the spiders, with the flames also spreading through their webs, eliminating the obstacles. Players can adjust and customise their setups on the fly in the open world, although certain configuration aspects remain locked until they return to the main zones.
“Customising your setup to more easily defeat different enemies is a crucial aspect of the franchise. It is one of the key pillars of Guild Wars 1, and we are bringing it back with greater strength in the combat system of Guild Wars 3,” Johanson explains.
A Dynamic Multiplayer Experience
The conditions applied to enemies accumulate in multiplayer modes. If one player begins to freeze an enemy, the cold effect stacks, slowing the enemy’s animations and attacks. As more players apply additional cold effects, the enemy will move increasingly slower until they become an immobile block of ice for a brief period. Should the rival be low on health, a character wielding a knockdown ability, like a Warrior, can charge the ice block, shattering it if they succeed and damaging nearby foes in the process.
ArenaNet has yet to disclose several game features, such as the spiritual mounts teased in the initial reveal. Johanson assured that more information will be available in the future. There remain questions regarding how PS5 players will communicate with those on PC, where text chat is more accessible. Nevertheless, Johanson confirmed the presence of a player-versus-player (PvP) mode, alongside coordinated experiences akin to dungeons.
Overall, Guild Wars 3 will feature significantly fewer on-screen interface elements compared to traditional MMOs. ArenaNet claims the scale differs from both Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, with the former positioned at the more modest end of the MMO market and the latter at the opposite extreme. “Internally, we refer to Guild Wars 3 as a more meaningful MMO, where every player on-screen truly matters and makes a difference,” declares Johanson.
Innovative Server Technology for Enhanced Gameplay
This sentiment is reflected in GW3’s utilisation of an improved version of the megaservers from GW2, which minimises loading screens and establishes a cap of around 20 players in active combat areas within the open world, a number that significantly increases in social hubs like cities and towns. “We have seen very few new MMOs in the last decade, and most of us are still playing the same games we were two decades ago,” Johanson points out.
He adds, “We recognise that MMO enthusiasts are eagerly calling for something new, asserting that the genre needs a push forward, and I believe that is where ArenaNet shines.”
As we move through the next year and approach the beta launch, further details will emerge. Until then, I’ll dust off Guild Wars 2, which has recently welcomed new players. As the Norn say: “May the spirits guide you.”